Intermediate
by Major Riza Elric
Summary: She is trapped in the Darkness, in Pain, in her Memories but what she gains from this will be worth every agonizing moment.


A/N: Before I start this new story I would like to apologize for not updating my other stories in so long. I hope I will be updating those soon.

**Chapter 1**

Everything was black. Pitch black. Silence pressed in around her and the nothingness felt heavy. Time passed by agonizingly slow or was time really passing at all?

Only one thing was clear in the darkness and the silence, the pain. She felt it deep in her chest, resonating outwards. Sometimes completely unbearable, other times just a dull ache. What was this pain from? Why wouldn't it end?

At this moment the pain was excruciating and she tried to focus on anything else but it was difficult in the darkness. Slowly, ever so slowly time passed with this burning pain deep in her chest.

Then in the far distance she saw a small pinprick of light. Finally, a distraction to focus her attention on. The light grew and surrounded her like the brightness of summer afternoon sunshine. It was so blinding she had to squint to protect her eyes.

A pulse of pain diverted her attention and she wanted to scream out but the silence would not break. Wordlessly she prayed for the pain to end or, at least, for it to dull. The dull ache she could handle, ignore even.

_Please_

A soft whisper broke the silence, the voice sounded strange and alien but she knew it was hers pleading. An answer to her prayer, slowly a numbing sensation pushed its way through her. Gradually the pain receded to a manageable ache and she could once more lend her focus to the brightness surrounding her.

She allowed her eyes to adjust to the brightness and a familiar scene unfolded. A city street lay out before her with a row of buildings across it. She knew those buildings and this street. She was aware that behind her was a train station, in fact, the smell of burning coal was floating in the air. There should have been the noise of the street and the station but all was eerily quiet. The street was empty of cars and people as far as she could see in both directions. This was the oddest thing, she knew this was normally a busy street but it was void of life.

She tried to take a step forward but was not able to move. Why was she frozen to this spot?

For a long time she stood still listening to the silence, then the small rustle of clothing came from beside her. She could feel the presence next to her but could not move to identify who had joined her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, causing a jolt of pain to run through her chest. She wanted to reach up to massage the ache away but her body refused to response. She released a noiseless sigh before opening her eyes.

The noise of the street and the station washed over her like a tidal wave. Whistles of arriving or departing trains rang out behind her. A car horn honked somewhere to her right and the sound of engines running came from the street.

Around her were faceless people walking about, on the street cars raced by, and the shops had become crowded with people. She tried to focus on a single person but the brightness made it difficult to decipher any details.

Again she tried to open her mouth to speak but no words came out. Once more she tried to move, still she was frozen in place.

Odd…. This was very odd. Why was this place so familiar and yet so odd.

Then the creeping feeling of sleep began to takeover. She fought it the best she could but within moments the world returned to blackness.

How much time has passed in the darkness? Why has the pain returned? What happened to the street? Confusion ran through her, none of this made sense. The pain was making it hard to think straight.

Oh the unbearable pain in her chest. She felt like it was slowly crushing her lungs making it difficult to breathe. It was crushing the life out of her.

_Please._

She wanted the pain to end.

_Please._

She wanted to sob, to scream, anything to relieve this pain.

_Please, please._

Her chest burned and it was hard to draw in breath.

_Please, please let the pain stop._

Was there no escaping this strange existence, trapped here in the darkness with this crippling pain.

_Please….. Please…. End this…. Let me rest…. Please…_

Unable to move, unable to find relief in the darkness. Slowly she slipped away back into the nothingness.

The brightness surrounded her, the pain reduced to an ache. Once more she found herself on the busy street, the familiar noises and unidentifiable people surrounding her. Next to her was the rustle of clothing and the heavy thud of boots on pavement. She realized with a start that she was walking away from the station towards the street. Strange, she seemed to have no control over the movement and was unable to make any others.

_Why am I here? Where is this?_

_Main street in Central,_ rose to the front of her thoughts. That was why this place was so familiar, she drove to the Central Station behind her often for work.

Her movement stopped as did the thud of boots next to her. Frozen in this position she was not capable of identifying her companion.

_Who would I be picking up?_

The two had stopped at the curb and parked on the opposite curb was the usual Military black car. It sat empty waiting for her return, subconsciously she knew this. In fact she could now fell the keys in the pocket of her uniform pants.

The sunshine was making her eyes water and her headache. For a moment she wished the darkness would return because she suddenly felt tired, so exhausted, but this time closing her eyes would not bring the relief of sleep.

Her subconscious was tugging at her, trying to force her to remember what was so important about this sunny day in front of the train station. It was the only memory that could be drawn forth from the murky depths of her mind.

_It's summer._

It was the reason for the sunshine and with this realization came the heat pressing in on her. August was always one of the worst times in Central. The sun was always to bright and the temperatures too high to bear.

_Who would return to Central during this time?_

Still she was unable to move to identify who stood next to her. Whoever it was would be returning to Central Head Quarters with her.

A loud bang cut through the noise of the street. And next to her the concrete blasted into the air as something struck. Screams filled the street and her heart began to race.

_What is going on?_

Another loud bang this time followed by the feeling of her chest being ripped apart. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. All the noise around her ceased. She was sinking to her knees, both hands groping her chest. Her hands felt wet and in the center of her blouse was a hole. Each breath burned like an inferno and hot tears ran down her cheeks. Her knees hit the pavement and she closed her eyes. The pain was so excruciating.

_I've been shot!_


End file.
